The City College women’s badminton team came second behind Irvine Valley (6-2) in the Orange Empire Conference March 4. The two losses ended their winning streak spanning three years, however, the defeat by Irvine Valley is overshadowed by the team’s other successes this year.

The Knights had gone 34-0 from 2006 to 2008 and won the first three matches of this year’s season.

Three badminton players, YingJing You, Jeannie Emathinger, and Shirley Barrios qualified for the CCCAA State Championships, held at Irvine Valley College from May 8 through May 9. The team of You and Emathinger qualified for doubles, while all three ladies qualified individually for singles. You, Emathinger and Barrios were also named to the All-OEC First team.

You made it to the quarterfinals in the singles competition while Barrios made it to the finals of the consolation bracket. Emathinger was defeated in the second round.

The You and Emathinger duo recovered from a second round loss and moved on to win the consolation bracket in doubles competition.

The women’s badminton team is led by head Coach Son Nguyen and this is his fourth year as head coach after one season as an assistant at SDCC. Nguyen led the team to three California State Championships in 2006, 2007 and 2008.